Our server costs ~$56 per month to run. Please consider donating or becoming a Patron to help keep the site running. Help us gain new members by following us on Twitter and liking our page on Facebook!
Current time: March 28, 2024, 11:12 am

Thread Rating:
  • 1 Vote(s) - 5 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
'Prove claims' question.
#11
RE: 'Prove claims' question.
(December 15, 2008 at 4:16 am)Kyuuketsuki Wrote: To my mind, "I think" denotes opinion and opinion is not a claim as such ... it does, however, depend very much on how it is expressed.

Kyu
I agree, Kyu. Although uttering these words here on a forum is in my opinion an invitation to debate so in that case one can surely ask for reasons behind the thought.
"I'm like a rabbit suddenly trapped, in the blinding headlights of vacuous crap" - Tim Minchin in "Storm"
Christianity is perfect bullshit, christians are not - Purple Rabbit, honouring CS Lewis
Faith is illogical - fr0d0
Reply
#12
RE: 'Prove claims' question.
(December 15, 2008 at 2:10 pm)Purple Rabbit Wrote: I agree, Kyu. Although uttering these words here on a forum is in my opinion an invitation to debate so in that case one can surely ask for reasons behind the thought.

Yes, something I have realised to my detriment Undecided

Kyu
Reply
#13
RE: 'Prove claims' question.
LukeMC,

I DO thank all those people, whole heartedly. Smile
"The eternal mystery of the world is its comprehensibility"

Albert Einstein
Reply
#14
RE: 'Prove claims' question.
So to you is thanking God like thanking goodness? All the good in the world? Good people for a start. Why do you need to believe in the supernatural for that?

Evf.
Reply
#15
RE: 'Prove claims' question.
(December 15, 2008 at 7:48 pm)EvidenceVsFaith Wrote: So to you is thanking God like thanking goodness? All the good in the world? Good people for a start. Why do you need to believe in the supernatural for that?

Evf.

No, it isn't like that. I have believed in a personal God.
"The eternal mystery of the world is its comprehensibility"

Albert Einstein
Reply
#16
RE: 'Prove claims' question.
Oh. Well of course I'm sure that of course you DO hank all the good people. Perhaps Lukes point is that you were expressing gratitude to God for all the good things and good people in that post. Rather than thanking the good things themselves. And of course the good people. At least your words seemed to be saying that?
Is it just a force of habit? Smile
Reply
#17
RE: 'Prove claims' question.
To address the original post, the phrase "I think" is sometimes used out of a lack of confidence. I was going to begin by saying "I think the reason people..." and carry on from there. This is because I was basically gonna make up a suggestion with no real evidence to back it up. "I think" gives me the cover of opinion.

If somebody says "I think there is a God" then you can pose the question "what makes you think this?"
If they present no evidence, dismiss their claim, as it says in Purple Rabbit's sig.
If they do have evidence, dispute it like any other debate. It isn't exactly the same as burden of proof, it's more a case of us asking the thinker to assess their thoughts and back them up. If they cannot do this, their opinion has no ground to stand on. It's just baseless speculation.
Reply
#18
RE: 'Prove claims' question.
(December 16, 2008 at 5:24 pm)LukeMC Wrote: To address the original post, the phrase "I think" is sometimes used out of a lack of confidence. I was going to begin by saying "I think the reason people..." and carry on from there. This is because I was basically gonna make up a suggestion with no real evidence to back it up. "I think" gives me the cover of opinion.

If somebody says "I think there is a God" then you can pose the question "what makes you think this?"
If they present no evidence, dismiss their claim, as it says in Purple Rabbit's sig.
If they do have evidence, dispute it like any other debate. It isn't exactly the same as burden of proof, it's more a case of us asking the thinker to assess their thoughts and back them up. If they cannot do this, their opinion has no ground to stand on. It's just baseless speculation.

Good points Luke. I would just say that it can be frustrating when you present your 'evidence' or reasons for a certain belief but this is rejected. I'll give an example. I think there is a God because of the inference for design. You guys will not accept that there is any inference. You beleive nature appears to show design, it's how our brains are wired. I would say this could be right, but that 'design' is still a possibility. This may be stretching it a bit, but I liken my detection of 'design' as similar to string theorists detecting strings. They detect 'strings' via tangible proofs, things that infer strings, but still they aren't able to prove the strings really exist. Smile
"The eternal mystery of the world is its comprehensibility"

Albert Einstein
Reply
#19
RE: 'Prove claims' question.
Sure, but what makes you think I'd accept string theory?
Best regards,
Leo van Miert
Horsepower is how hard you hit the wall --Torque is how far you take the wall with you
Pastafarian
Reply
#20
RE: 'Prove claims' question.
(December 16, 2008 at 5:49 pm)leo-rcc Wrote: Sure, but what makes you think I'd accept string theory?

I'm sure there are many scientists and folk like us who don't accept it, but it's the attitude surrounding it, whether you do or don't accept it. It's respectable for these scientists to believe in something, or should I say, suspect something that borders on science fiction/metaphysical almost, theories, without being able to prove it, or test it. When you apply the same logic to a 'designer' it's suddenly not respectable and you're left to feel like you're foolish to even consider such a silly concept.
"The eternal mystery of the world is its comprehensibility"

Albert Einstein
Reply



Possibly Related Threads...
Thread Author Replies Views Last Post
  WLC: "You can't prove the negative" Fake Messiah 107 5002 February 25, 2022 at 9:57 pm
Last Post: Jehanne
  Prove honesty is virtuous! Mystic 15 1577 May 30, 2018 at 7:51 pm
Last Post: Brian37
  Is the statement "Claims demand evidence" always true? Mudhammam 268 30975 February 3, 2017 at 6:44 pm
Last Post: WisdomOfTheTrees
  Extraordinary Claims Require Extraordinary Evidence RoadRunner79 184 29077 November 13, 2015 at 12:17 pm
Last Post: The Grand Nudger
  You can't prove to me you are an atheist. Knowledge of God 129 16904 June 29, 2014 at 4:12 pm
Last Post: Whateverist
  You can't prove a negative (parody) Mystic 33 17708 April 10, 2013 at 4:56 pm
Last Post: Godscreated
  Morality, Justice, Greatness - do these things prove God? Mystic 25 9680 March 5, 2012 at 1:20 am
Last Post: AthiestAtheist
  You cant prove a negative! The Grand Nudger 17 8109 July 6, 2011 at 11:09 pm
Last Post: BethK
  Truthworthy claims that... Edwardo Piet 26 8075 February 11, 2010 at 9:05 pm
Last Post: TruthWorthy



Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)